Anthropological Orientation: The Boundaries and Foundations of Field Science

Author: Guta Ferguson Luo Jianjian
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: In its appropriate decomposition and aggregation of the concept of fieldwork, it is successful and engaging, challenging our understanding of current and future anthropological methods and cultural strategies within the long-standing ethnographic standards in the social sciences. For anyone genuinely concerned with ethnology and its successors, this book is a must-read. – John Comaroff, University of Chicago
This is an extremely important contribution to anthropology. More importantly, despite the direct and sharp criticism, the tone of the book remains constructive rather than destructive—or perhaps deconstructively constructive. – John Vincent, Barnard University
Through their profound and stimulating review of past and present fieldwork thinking, the book’s contribution lies in pointing out the direction in which anthropology, as a concept and as an evolving discipline, is moving. We often refer to Anthropological Positioning when debating how to proceed next. – Ulf. Hannerz, Transnational Relations Research
The timely and important edited volume by Guta and Vrind should be widely read and appreciated. – Cherie Otter, Columbia University
In terms of knowledge systems and professional practices, fieldwork and the related ethnography have perhaps never been as central to the discipline of anthropology as they are today. From a disciplinary perspective, the era when ethnography was regarded as a "simple description"—a means of providing raw data for the science of natural human behavior—has long become history. Whether it is the disciplinary stylistic shift (from "deep description" to "writing culture") or the disciplinary historical shift (from political economy to regional sociohistorical studies), mainstream sociocultural anthropology in prominent departments at universities in the United States and the United Kingdom views ethnographic description as a valuable and vibrant part of the discipline’s own development.